Participatory governance is explored in this article in the context of participatory mechanisms of accountability for
urban services. Accountability has become a buzzword internationally over the past few years, and, as is the case
with many such terms, there is confusion as to what exactly is meant. The people and organisations promoting
accountability view it as critical to solving problems with urban services in an increasingly fragmented context of
service provision. This article seeks to explore the growing interest in accountability and to assess the potential of
participatory governance to improve the provision of urban services. Other objectives are to:
• Consider contemporary innovations in the way urban services are delivered – the context of accountability.
• Define accountability using the existing literature and present current models for accountability.
• Discuss how the concept of participatory governance can be operationalised in the context of urban services
• Present initial findings from case studies undertaken in South Africa, Bangladesh, South Korea and UK.
These case studies are used to illustrate different functions of accountability.
• Examine the potential of accountability arrangements demonstrated in these case studies to improve the
quality of local services and the responsiveness of services providers